John Edwards Touted as First Female President;Woman Accuses Gov. Richardson (D-NM) of Pinching

Mar 8, 2007

RUSH: Try this headline. Ann Coulter, if you’re out there listening, listen to this headline from the New York Sun today: ‘Could John Edwards Become the First Woman President?’ (Laughing.) It’s by Josh Gerstein in the New York Sun: &ldquo;Toni Morrison, famously dubbed President Clinton America’s &lsquo;first black president.’ With that barrier broken…&ldquo; (laughing) Obama, do you hear that? The first black president barrier has been broken! (Laughing.) &ldquo;With that barrier broken, the comments of a prominent feminist are provoking debate about who may lay a similar claim to the title of America’s first woman president. The candidate being touted as a torch bearer for women is not [Mrs. Bill] Clinton, but instead one of her former colleagues, John Edwards,&rdquo; the Breck Girl. ‘At a rally near the University of California Berkeley campus this week a veteran of the abortion rights movement, Kate Michelman, asked and answered the question she gets most frequently about her decision to back’ the Breck Girl. She said, ”Why John Edwards, given the historic nature of our extraordinary campaign for the presidency this year with [Mrs. Bill Clinton] and Barack Obama and all the others? Well, I’ve gotten to know a lot of political leaders over the years. I’ve been an advocate for women’s rights, and I know the difference between those who advocate as a political position and those who understand the reality of women’s lives.’ Compared to [Mrs. Bill Clinton,] the [Breck Girl] is short an X chromosome, but listening to…’ (laughing) Is this not absurd? ‘Listening to Ms. Michelman, that’s easy to forget. ‘As a lawyer, as a senator, as a husband, as a father of two daughters, he understands the reality of women’s lives. He understands the centrality of women’s lives and experience the health and well-being of society as a whole. He understands that on an extremely personal level.’

‘Her comments drew some quizzical looks, as though she’d extended her argument to suggest that Mr. Edwards understood the plight of African-Americans as well or better than Mr. Obama. After the rally, another journalist and I sought out Ms. Michelman who spent 20 years at the helm of the nation’s leading abortion rights group, NARAL, Pro-Choice America. Asked how Mr. Edwards could have a better understanding of women’s concerns than [Mrs. Bill Clinton], Ms. Michelman denied trying to convey such a message. ‘I didn’t say ‘better,” she said.’ (Laughing.) Of course, she’s a woman! She didn’t say what she said. Even if she did say it, she’s entitled to change her mind and deny it. ‘However, she did acknowledge recently to an online magazine, Salon.com, that touting [the Breck Girl] didn’t necessarily mean criticizing his opponents. Pressed about how [the Breck Gir] l could have a feel for women’s problems…’ This is too ripe. (Laughing) I’m practicing restraint like you can’t believe here. ‘Pressed how [the Breck Girl] could have a feel for women’s problems that’s even comparable to that of someone like [Mrs. Bill Clinton], Ms. Michelman said her concerns go beyond identifying the issues. ‘He just doesn’t understand. You have to begin with understanding. It’s an understanding, but it’s a commitment. He understands in a way that is tied to all of his beliefs about lifting everyone up.”

He doesn’t lift everybody up! You seen his big mansion? You seen his little beach house? He’s not lifting anybody up, and his policies certainly wouldn’t do that. ‘Ms. Michelman’s decision after a career in the women’s movement,’ which, by the way, as I say, folks, I love the women’s movement. Don’t get the wrong idea here. I love the women’s movement, especially when walking behind it. But anyway, her ‘decision not to back [Mrs. Bill Clinton] has prompted speculation and grumbling in some quarters. Some suggest Ms. Michelman still fuming over a 2005 speech in which [Mrs. Bill Clinto] called abortion ‘a sad, even tragic choice to many, many women.’ Still, Michelman acknowledges that some of her enthusiasm for [the Breck Gir] springs from an intangible affinity she can’t quite explain. ‘It’s hard to describe. I’m inspired by this guy.” So John Edwards is on tap now, according to one of the nation’s largest abortion rights supporters to become the first woman president in the United States — and, of course, the barrier is down. The first black president, Bill Clinton. That barrier is broken. (Laughing.) Sometimes all you can do is laugh at these people.

Speaking of the Breck Girl, his campaign ‘announced that he will skip the Nevada Democratic Party’s planned August presidential debate, the latest fallout from the party’s decision to have the Fox Network host the event. The move sparked an outcry, particularly among liberals and activist bloggers, who accused Fox of being too sympathetic to Republicans and demanded that the Democratic candidates boycott the forum. &hellip; MoveOn[.org] civic communications director Adam Green said, ‘We wanted to send a clear message to voters, the media and the presidential candidates that Fox is part of the right-wing smear machine, not a legitimate source of news.” It’s a debate! Why do you think the Democrats want their debate on the Fox News Channel? They’ve got their choice of any news channel. Why do you think they want to have their debate on the Fox News Channel? They want an audience, folks! They want people that are going to watch it. Fox News by far has the largest audience — and, of course, the Democrats are trying to reach that audience in their debate, and Edwards is going to skip out! You know, presidents don’t get away with that. Even the first female president doesn’t get away with boycotting certain networks.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: This is interesting, too. This is from the Politico.com today: &ldquo;New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s 2008 presidential campaign…&ldquo; If he’s elected president, he’d be the first what president? It can’t be Hispanic because he is Hispanic. That’s the way the Democrats identify it. If the Breck Girl is going to be the first female president, then an actual Hispanic cannot be ‘the first Hispanic president’ if he’s elected. He’s gotta be something else. Bill Clinton was the first black president but he’s not black. So you can’t say he’s going to be called the first Hispanic president if he were to be elected. I don’t know what ‘first’ he would be, but to the Democrats, everybody running on their side is a first something.

Anyway, his campaign &ldquo;has been burdened by unusually public discussion about his behavior with women. The lieutenant governor of New Mexico, Diane Denish was quoted in the Albuquerque Journal saying she avoids standing or sitting near Richardson because of his physical manner, which she said was not improper but was ‘annoying.’ The governor, she said, ‘pinches my neck. He touches my hip, my thigh, sort of the side of my leg.’ On repeated occasions, Richardson has been pressed by reporters or Democratic activists on whether his personal conduct can withstand public scrutiny. Richardson, in an interview with The Politico, denied behaving inappropriately, calling the talk ‘mean-spirited.”

The usual out.

&ldquo;Still, the concerns have become enough of a headwind for Richardson’s campaign that the candidate has a more substantive response — that his personal conduct was vetted, and effectively given a seal of approval, when he was considered for the vice presidential nomination by John F. Kerry in 2004,&rdquo; who served in Vietnam by the way. So I guess what he’s saying here is that he can pinch the lieutenant governor’s neck. He can touch her hip, her thigh, that sort of thing. That’s okay, because he was vetted as a vice presidential potential for John Kerry. By the way, she said this is not improper, it’s ‘annoying.’ It’s not improper? You realize the import of that. Here’s a lieutenant governor of the state (paraphrased), &ldquo;No, it’s not improper for him to pinch my neck. It’s not improper for him to touch my hip or my thigh, sort of the side of my leg. It’s just annoying.&rdquo; This is not gonna sit well out there because any unwanted advances out there are considered improper and can land the perp in any number of uncomfortable positions, places — and hot water.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: We figured it out during the commercial break. If Bill Richardson would happen to be elected president, we have two choices. He could be the first Jewish president or the first North Korean president. We’ve opted with the first North Korean president. We don’t know, because Kate Michelman says the Breck Girl has an affinity for women and understands their issues. I don’t know whether Richardson has that affinity for Jews and Jewish issues, such as Israel and that sort of thing, but we do know he’s been to North Korea a lot and he’s got affinity for Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, the little pot-bellied dictators. So if Richardson happens to be elected president, we’ll call him “the first North Korean president,” ladies and gentlemen. Also, we’ve decided that any further John Edwards news we will use this tune as an official update theme for the Breck Girl. (Playing of “I am Woman.”) RUSH: Are you listening, Ann Coulter?(Playing of “I am Woman.”) RUSH: All right, come on! Get to the chorus so I can get out of this.(Playing of “I am Woman.”) RUSH: Dawn, does this embarrass you? This was big in the seventies. This was huge in the seventies. This is Helen Reddy with the vocal portrayal. Anyway, that’s enough. I have a better idea. I’m going to ask Paul Shanklin if he can do it or if he has somebody else that can impersonate Edwards and have Edwards actually sing the song. So we’ll get to work on that el quicko. Bill Richardson will be the first North Korean president if he’s elected, which he won’t be, so we’ll miss out on that opportunity. BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: All right, we’re thinking of adding another tune here to the John Edwards update rotation. As you know if you’ve been listening to the program since the beginning today, the former abortion babe, Kate Michelman (she’s still pro-abortion, just not a member of NARAL anymore) is out there saying that Edwards is the best guy qualified on the Democrat side for women. He’s going to be ‘the first female president.’ (Ann Coulter, are you getting this?) Kate Michelman is essentially saying that John Edwards, the Breck Girl, could be the first female president. So we’ve got Shanklin working on ‘I am Woman,’ sung by John Edwards, the Breck Girl. We’re going to throw this one into the mix. This is the Eurythmics, joined by Aretha Franklin. It’s called &ldquo;Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves.&rdquo;

(Playing of ‘Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves’)

RUSH: This is the John Edwards update theme.

(Playing of ‘Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves’)

RUSH: All right. So that’s the Eurythmics with Aretha, and we’ll throw that into the rotation as well. (Laughing.) It’s funny, Bill Clinton was the first black president. If he’s elected, the Breck Girl is going to be the first female president. Democrats are talking about this, and so we’ve decided if Bill Richardson gets elected, he’ll be the first North Korean president — because whatever you are, you cannot be the first real thing. Hillary will not be the first female president. She’ll be something else. Yeah, you could say Hillary might be the first male president the Democrats have had in a while. She has the testicle lockbox, so she has been accumulating them.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Here’s a question for those of you interested in these kind of things. If John Edwards were to win the presidency and become the first female president, inquiring minds would want to know: Who would manufacture and who would design his inaugural gown?